It Takes a Douche
by henriettaline
Summary: When two people who used to selfishly mess up Rachel's life find out what Brody's planning for her, they hatch a plan to stop his manipulation. Basically consistent with canon through S4Ep4. Brody fans should avoid.
1. A Confederacy of Douches

_A/N: I've left this one without character classification, since the people involved and the relationships involved aren't really the same thing. I'm using a very Brody-hostile interpretation of recent events, so fans of Brody should stop reading now.  
It's going to be relatively short (4-5 chapters). Cover picture taken from Zombie Dice from Steve Jackson Games.  
_

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Chapter 1: A Confederacy of Douches

_Well that was a waste of time_, Jesse St. James thought as he left his interview with the talent agency. After Carmen Thibideaux's grudging words of approval at Nationals, and the clear evidence in the results that he contributed better to performance success as a performer than as a coach, Jesse had decided to try New York again, this time heading straight for Broadway. He had mailed out resumes and his video portfolio to several top agents, a few of which had actually agreed to see him (or have one of their minions see him), but so far it was all for nothing.

He had another appointment later that afternoon, not one of the better ones but he had to start somewhere, he supposed. Needing coffee, he spotted a cafe that looked like it catered to the performing arts set and headed for it.

Entering, he ran straight into another man who was leaving, each avoiding enough of the other so that the other man still kept hold of his coffee cup, though it was a near thing. Brown trails ran down the outside of the paper cup, dripping onto the ground.

"You idiot!" the other man exclaimed, shaking drops of coffee from his hand. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Why don't you?" Jesse retorted, but did a double-take as he recognized the young man: his old rival from Broadway school workshops, Brody Weston. It had been a while, the last time they'd seen each other had been at the summer intensive just after they'd both finished high school. Brody had been accepted at NYADA and had already moved to New York; Jesse had been there for one last workshop before starting at UCLA that fall.

"Well look who it is," Brody said, clearly having recognized him as well. "Pretty boy St. James."

"Hey farm boy," Jesse replied with a curt nod.

Brody rolled his eyes. "It's a _ranch_."

"Close enough." The familiar ribbing was comfortable, even two and a half years later.

"It's not like I go there any more anyway, I'm a New Yorker now."

That was new; the Brody Weston that Jesse always used to run into at Broadway training intensives, that one would never have repudiated the family farm where he'd grown up. _Ranch. Whatever. _Guess success had changed him. Jesse looked at his old rival more carefully, noting the polished facial expression, shorter hair, and much harder body, this last shown off by his trim wardrobe. If he hadn't known the guy was from a ranch in Montana, he'd never have been able to guess. A New Yorker now, like he said.

"What brings you to the big city?" Brody asked, giving Jesse a look of superiority.

"Auditioning," Jesse replied, leaving out that it was merely auditioning for agents, not shows.

"Hmph. Well you owe me another coffee, so you'd better not be totally broke."

Jesse gave Brody a tight smile, hoped fervently that he'd never been that bad himself, and showed the other man back inside the cafe.

Brody insisted on getting his replacement coffee "for here" instead, and they sat down at a table in the window.

"So I hear you didn't last long at UCLA," Brody said, as an opener.

Jesse tried to seem nonchalant, drinking his coffee. "It wasn't what I was looking for."

"Shame it slowed you down. I've been on Broadway already."

"Are you still at NYADA?"

"Oh yes, I only do Broadway outside of term, no way I'm going to stunt my potential by leaving early." Brody jutted his chin out confidently.

"Summer fill-in, huh," Jesse commented. "Was it the chorus? Oh, you've arrived all right, Weston." He noticed Brody's frown. "You get up to much when you're at school? Farm still paying your way?" He gave a slight smirk at Brody's flinch, the guy was clearly stopping himself from retorting "ranch". It wouldn't hurt him to be reminded that the place he'd come from that he claimed to have grown out of was still supporting him.

"I get up to a lot," Brody said. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then smirked. "Actually I have to thank you. That girl you were talking about, the one you said was a much better singer than Cecelia? You talked about her a lot that summer before college when we were both here for the workshop."

"Rachel Berry," Jesse supplied, wondering where Brody was going with this. Of course Rachel was at NYADA too, he'd even helped her get there, or so he'd like to think. And she was a much better singer than Cecelia Cooper could ever hope to be.

"That's the one. Sweet like her name. I bet she'll get all sticky too." Brody laughed. "The cream of the new NYADA class, easily, so thank you for the reference. I might even keep her around a little longer, if she's adventurous enough."

"Ah... what are you talking about?" Ordinarily it would be good to have another connection to Rachel, and he could crow about being right about her voice, but Jesse really didn't like Brody's attitude. Brody had been a bit of an ass before, but he had gotten a whole lot worse over the years, Jesse figured, or maybe it was partly because he'd grown up himself that he noticed. And what Brody was hinting at – what was going on?

Brody shrugged. "You know how it is when you first arrive in a place like this – not that _you_ have really arrived yet – it's a whole different game. Show business and the big city, it's time to be an adult, and it helps if there's someone to show you how." He smiled, not a smirk this time. "My own transition was a real eye-opener, and it's amazing to be part of that for someone else. To get that last bit of wide-eyed sweetness and enjoy opening them up to life." He paused. "It fades so quickly, unfortunately, but luckily there's always new blood coming to town. And Rachel, she's one juicy Berry, just coming perfectly ripe."

Jesse frowned. This was dressed up, but it wasn't that different than what he'd tried, back when he'd been dumb enough to see how close he could get to Rachel while thinking he could treat it as an exercise in acting. "So you're sleeping with her," he grumbled. In that case he was disappointed in her, and anyway what had happened to Hudson?

"Not yet," Brody demurred. "She's been a fun chase. But it won't be long now, it never is, she's already gone all New York to prove that she's sexy and ditched that big lump of a hometown boyfriend."

"Fiance," Jesse muttered under his breath.

"What?" Brody laughed incredulously. "They were engaged, huh? God, she was even more naive than I thought. Good thing she has me to help her be a New York girl now." He shrugged. "The guy showed up for a week, didn't fit in, sure as hell couldn't compete with me though I gave him plenty of room to try, and left with his tail between his legs. He's history."

Jesse flinched a bit at hearing his former romantic rival written off so quickly. Whatever he'd thought about Finn Hudson, he knew Rachel had truly loved him. They had buried the hatchet at Nationals, and he'd even overcome his old jealousy enough to be grudgingly impressed by the tall idiot's performance. And then he'd been canned by Vocal Adrenaline for losing, and he knew it hadn't been all Rachel's doing beating him, either, not when yet again those two had shown the magic they had performing together.

Jesse had never looked for that himself, his performances were all about him and he liked it that way. Though he'd wondered, those three times he'd heard Rachel and Finn sing together, if just maybe he was missing out on something. And now – this was weird, it was like he actually felt sorry for Hudson, listening to Brody's quick dismissal of him. He certainly felt bad for Rachel. And guilty that it might have been remembering hearing about her from him that led to Brody targeting her, though he might have anyway, from what he was saying he'd built up a track record.

Though, seriously? Brody Weston was an asshole. He didn't remember him being this bad, before, just competitive, New York had changed him. And no way did he want Brody to be able to rub it in his face that he'd gotten the girl that was one of Jesse's few regrets, though it was obviously Brody's intention to do so.

Behind him he heard another customer waiting for coffee, moving around a little at the counter.

"So this is something you like to do, now," Jesse stated snidely. "Because training to become a star doesn't take _too_ much of your time."

"Just helping her grow up. And it's so amazing to watch her change right before my eyes, right into who I want her to be. I can hardly wait until she's doing all of what I want her to do, she's going to be a treat."

"What does she get out of it?" Jesse wondered aloud. It was clear Brody didn't intend it to last all that long, just long enough to change who Rachel was and get off from doing it. And while doing it.

Brody stretched, a long deliberate showing off of his muscles and flexibility. "Aside from an amazing lay, at least a few times?" He smirked, then shrugged. "She gets to not crash and burn in New York. She's already shed her little Midwest girl wardrobe and ways, once she completes the Weston Welcome Program she'll be all adjusted to how she needs to be to make it in this biz."

"Adjusted? What does she need to change? She's the most talented person I've ever met."

"Talent isn't everything. If you need someone to be good to you, like a director or casting agent, you have to be prepared to be good to them, and you also have to be able to get and hold their attention. This is the big city, that small-town girl needed someone to show her the ropes." He chuckled. "Not literal ropes, of course. Unless maybe I can get her up for that, who knows. But seriously, hanging on to her past and her hangups was just going to weigh her down and hold her back. New York, new life, calls for a new person, don't you think?"

Movement at a nearby table drew Jesse's attention as the person who had been at the counter sat down, back to them – was that who he thought it was? Surely not. But if it was, and it could be, that person was getting an earful. "And you like doing that," he commented to Brody.

"Sure. Feels powerful, to affect someone that much, to see that light in her eyes shine for me and know that I'm changing her world forever. And I appreciate the people who did it for me, when I arrived, I like the idea that she's going to think about me the way I thought about them. All the best because otherwise she's got what it takes to be a star, she just has to be molded right."

"You're still just a junior," Jesse said, rolling his eyes. "I don't see you taking Broadway by storm just yet, even with your summer fill-in experience. Casting yourself as some all-wise Svengali is getting ahead of yourself."

"What, you think I can't do it?" Brody laughed hollowly. "She isn't the first, won't be the last. She's already changed on the outside, the inside is following, and it's just a matter of time before I get inside and close the deal. She'll be doing whatever I say, and it'll change her life."

_And just what was wrong with her before?_ Jesse shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant as his mind searched for a way to put down Brody. "All I can say is that you've got your work cut out for you if you try to 'close the deal'," he said finally. "I've seen you in your dance belt, remember, not that I looked, and I did briefly go to the same school as them so I've heard the locker-room rumors about the jocks. Including the one about the quarterback's cup needing to be ordered in because ones that large aren't normally in stock. And yours – well, let's just say that I don't see how your equipment is going to be able to satisfy someone who's accustomed to Hudson's colossal dick." A cough from that nearby table momentarily distracted him – it must be who he thought it was, to react to that. Maybe that person would even know if the story was true.

Across from him Brody still smiled, though he did appear nettled. No man likes to be told he's small in that area. "It's not what you've got, it's what you do with it," he retorted.

"Like you said, talent isn't everything."

Brody waved him off and picked up his coffee again, draining it. "Depends on the talent."

"How do you do it, anyway?" Jesse asked, though he was thinking more about managing to not grow a conscience. Weird how he'd managed to get one while Brody had lost his, maybe there was some sort of conscience conservation going on.

"You want to know my secrets, huh?" Brody smirked again, and Jesse thought how annoying that facial expression was. No wonder he pissed people off if he did that too. Brody sat down again. "Hey, why not, it's not like you can pull it off anyway."

"Come on, it's not like you were all that experienced with women that you can make them do things that other guys can't."

"I've been helping train horses since before I turned ten, it's the same thing. You want a high-strung beauty to do what you want? Coax her one step at a time and always let her think it's her idea. I don't _make_ anyone do anything, I go along with whatever they want. But I let them know that I want more even though I tell them I'm respecting their rules, I give them attention, and somehow – what they want changes, a lot further and a lot faster than they ever thought it would." Brody stood up and leaned down, closer to Jesse's ear, his voice soft. "You need a friend, because you're here all alone? I can be that for you. Of course you still love your boyfriend back home, and I respect that, I'll respect your boundaries." He chuckled, and Jesse's stomach turned at the sound. "Even though I definitely don't respect your personal space, but let's dance and I'll let you get used to me one step at a time," he commented, then sank his voice back into the softness it had before. "But just know that I can't get you out of my mind. I'm always thinking about kissing you." He blew air softly, stirring Jesse's hair, and Jesse made as if to swat him away lightly, annoyed. "I know it's too soon for you to move on, you're not looking for a new boyfriend, so let's just see where this goes. I can help you move on if you want to. I don't regret what we did, do you? It doesn't have to happen again, but I really want it to, you are so amazing to be with. Some things just don't work out but no hard feelings, right? We're adults." Brody straightened. "No way you can pull that off, St. James. It really does take a _ranch_ boy." He sauntered off.

Jesse groaned, then painted a smile back onto his face as the person he'd noticed before slowly turned around and rose. It was who he thought it might be, perhaps he'd been followed, or spotted through the window. Face unreadable. A few steps were taken, stopping at his table.

"_W__hat_ are you up to, St. James?"

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_Please review! (Unless you're foaming at the mouth because you ignored the warning.)_


	2. Heart of Doucheness

Chapter 2: Heart of Doucheness

_Weeks earlier, at the beginning of the NYADA fall term..._

Brody stretched out on the bed of Cassandra July's SoHo loft, his blood starting to race with the movements the dance teacher's body was making against him. Heat, friction, skin against skin.

"Mmmm..." Cassandra sighed in rising pleasure as she rolled onto her back, pulling her legs up and indicating that he should lie between them. He complied, fondling her, enjoying how well-toned she still maintained her body. "We'll need to start being a little more careful again soon," she said, hiking her knee over his hip. "I hate being careful."

"I thought you liked sneaking around, that's what you told me before."

"I said I thought _you_ would enjoy sneaking around." She splayed her hands on his hips, her thumbs digging into his V, her fingers on the side of his buttocks. "And I was right, you do. I can even tell you're looking forward to the arrival of the new class so you can do more of it."

The new class – yes he was looking forward to that, the new class meant new girls. Young starry-eyed girls full of talent and dreams, venturing on their own to the big city, not having a clue what they were facing.

New girls. He needed to find one, someone he could spend some time with and show around. There was always something powerful about getting to know a girl new to New York, one he could help step into adulthood and the world of entertainment. Take under his wing and into his bed so he could enjoy that fresh sweetness. Not that he didn't enjoy his regular liasons with Cassandra, but nothing had ever stopped him from having both, as long as he was careful. She gave him one kind of pleasure, a freshman girl would give him quite another, sweet, fresh, tight.

He knew he was also attracted the naivete that reminded him of himself when he'd first arrived in New York, still thinking he would be busy conquering the city and he could never replace Sarah from back home. (Though he'd been right, he'd never had a real girlfriend since her and didn't want one, these others didn't count.) But he wanted just a taste of that naivete, he wouldn't want to have it himself, and even better was the sense of wide-open discovery that followed. It never lasted; he had to work quickly to get what he needed before it faded, cajoling a girl step by step while she was still vulnerable and open, before New York hardened her or cast her off. But he liked the chase and that extra urgency, as well as the thrill of a new conquest.

He never made promises. He already knew his weren't worth anything.

"A new class, huh," he said, his expression lustful. With Cassandra naked against his body and thoughts of a potential new project in his mind, he was completely hard.

"Are you going to ditch me for the new blood, Brody?" Cassandra teased.

"You know I like to help out," Brody said, stretching her legs over his shoulders and pressing his weight down on her. He bucked his hips a little, stopping short of pushing in.

"Educating the ingenues," she said, giving him an arch smile that bared most of her teeth. "Sometimes I think your education was a little too good."

"It is a place of learning." He tweaked a bare nipple, then settled his hand between her legs. He'd learned a lot, right here.

"Don't I know it." She sighed, hooking her ankles together behind his neck. "Well I guess someone has to break them in. One of the girls that's coming into my new class looks like she could be fifteen, from the photo."

"I take it she's not."

She arched an eyebrow. "No, you don't have to worry about _that_. Though this one is probably too naive even for you, she looks it. If nothing else I don't expect she'll stay for long enough for you to make any headway." She leaned up to whisper in his ear. "And I know you like _head_way with the new girls you take up with."

"Eventually," he replied, though he couldn't fully suppress his groan just at the thought of it. He still needed to see some of the new girls, though this one might not be a good candidate if she wasn't likely to stay. "So you're already gunning for her before the first class?" This sounded harsh, even for Cassandra. It was almost worth trying to help the girl stay just to prove Cassandra wrong.

"You know my position on no second chances."

"I'm more than familiar with your _position_."

"Then I need to show you a new one," she said, shoving him off her and stretching a leg out before pulling him back, their groins coming together at the new angle. "There." She blew her hair out of her eyes and clutched her hand on his ass, holding him still as she ground up. "Ooh. _Yes._ Now where was I?"

"Right here," Brody smirked. Cassandra was so predictable, she needed to be in charge. Or at least think she was in charge; it hadn't been long after she'd taken him to bed two years before, at the urging of the senior looking to provide a replacement for himself, that he'd figured out he could get her fired if he wanted to. If nothing else it meant she'd never rat him out to any of the girls that would want a one-woman man. Though of course he never promised he would be one or formally became a boyfriend, things just... happened. And happened again. "No second chances," he prompted.

"Yes. She looks like she has all the sex appeal of a background flat. And she already got a second chance just getting in, choked on her original audition apparently. She's supposed to have this amazing voice but that's not worth a damn in my dance class, and she doesn't have the right look for Broadway at all, not unless they make _Leah the Forsaken_ into a musical. I'm not going to pull my punches and Tibideaux knows I don't. She'll rise to the occasion or she'll flame out within a month, and the smart money would be on the latter."

"No pulled punches, huh?" He shoved her back into the mattress, almost daring her to get more physical, even violent. He knew she never could, just as he knew why he got away with talking back to her, even in front of other students who sometimes discovered the hard way that they couldn't do it too. But it added extra tension to push her to the edge of her control, and he knew she enjoyed it just as much as he did, possibly more.

Cassandra ground up against him again, mock-clawing at his ass and back, her nails not digging in. "Never." She flipped him over and wrapped her hand around his penis, clenching him harder still. She screamed in pleasure as she impaled herself. "Oh yes, always save some of that for _me_."

* * *

"Hey Dee, welcome back. How was South Carolina?" Brody flashed a smile at the tall girl as he sat down opposite her in the upperclassman lounge, the next day.

Dee smiled back, her eyes flickering down for a few moments, clearly reacquainting herself with his sculpted chest, his pecs clearly outlined through his shirt. "Dreadful. Not that I expected much else, it's hot, humid, hopelessly backward, and my parents – and aunts and uncles – all expect me to be the same little girl they knew as she grew up." She groaned.

"Did Bret drop by? I saw him briefly, he said he might go see you." Bret Bateman, a senior two years before, had mentored them both when they'd started at NYADA, though in very different ways.

Dee sighed. "No, I didn't even hear from him. Now that might have been something to explain, though he would be worth explaining."

"Too bad, I guess."

"Yeah, well – he never made any promises, so no hard feelings right?" She gave Brody a quick smile. "I don't think I can stand it again, though. I have to get a part in something next summer, anything so I have a solid excuse for not going home."

"You could have stayed this time anyway."

"And still have them pay for all this? Not a chance. They would understand if I was on Broadway, like you were, or even off-Broadway, but aside from that no way, I have to go. I can manage being back there for the holidays, they're short enough, but after one month I was going out of my mind and after two I was about ready to crawl out of my skin. My old friends and my ex kept coming around to get me to do things, driving around, hanging out at a cheap restaurant, bowling, the usual old crap, and I started running out of excuses." Dee sighed, then gave Brody a sultry smile. "You know, if you really want to welcome me back, you should do it properly."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Properly, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm. And I see your steelworker experience has left you in very good shape for it."

"It only ran 3 nights."

"More than I got." She touched his arm flirtatiously. "I could really use your help getting back into shape, Brody."

He gave her a feral grin. "In that case I'll do my best. Midnight?"

"Ooh, my favorite. Please."

"Then midnight it is."

* * *

Brody ended up being late, deliberately – he wanted to keep her waiting, to build the anticipation and emphasize to her that he came and went as he pleased. When he finally showed up at one o'clock, Dee whisked him into her room and behind the sheet around her bed. He only caught a glimpse of her roommate sleeping in the other bed, or at least of her mass of long dark hair. _New girl,_ he thought. _Another reason to be late enough not to be seen._ Some of the upperclasswomen, like Dee, were familiar with his activities, but he tried to keep it quiet enough for the others not to. He wasn't interested in having the kind of reputation that Dee herself had earned.

Dee had waited long enough, and his clothes were on the floor in seconds, her hands squeezing him to readiness.

As Dee pulled him down on top of her, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye through the sheet – a girl, small, big dark eyes, rapidly exiting the room while carefully not looking in their direction.

"Was that your roommate?" he asked once the girl had left.

"I expect so, I've never bothered to meet her," Dee said, arching up to rub against him. "Little freshman girl from the Midwest, she doesn't look like she's going to last, so why get acquainted?"

"Nice enough to leave us alone." He stroked down her side, making her shiver.

"Oooh, yes," Dee moaned at his touch. "_Aahhh._ That's not because of us, she showers in the middle of the night. Every night." Dee rolled her eyes. "Has some big polish-and-moisturize thing that takes forever. At least it gets her out of the room." She smiled flirtatiously. "I've missed you, Brody," she said, running her hands up over the muscles on his back. "Even in the last week since I got back."

"I'm surprised you noticed. You've tried every straight man in this place and some who aren't so straight." He started kneading her breasts.

"You know it helps my flexibility – _ooh, __**more**_ – and it was simply awful being back home, like being in a convent after all the freedom here. If I'd brought any men home my dad would have had a fit, and my relatives were everywhere. After that, this is like a buffet I can actually gorge myself on, all these hot young bodies in one place. I've needed a _lot_ of welcoming back." Dee moaned as he accelerated his minstrations. "But I'd always make time for you."

"Let's see what else you'll make for me." He cupped her crotch, thrusting his fingers inside her. She was ready so soon, excellent, he could skip to the main event and save his wooing for the girls that needed to be wooed. As for that... "Your roommate, what's her name?"

"Not your type."

"Not my type _is_ my type." He settled between her legs and ground, biting her neck, not caring if he marked her; not possessively, just to show he didn't give a damn about what else she got up to. She cried out in pleasure, starting to claw his back, but he pushed her hands away. His body was his canvas, _he_ didn't want to get marked.

She looked narrowly into his eyes. "Look, we both know there's nothing in this between us, but to talk about another girl while we're at it, really?"

"Hey, I just want to know who to watch my step around." Freshman girl, she looked like his type all right, in need of a warm welcome and some of the acclimatization that was his specialty. It's not like NYADA ever admitted any poor physical types.

Dee grimaced, and pulled him closer again. "Her name's Rachel Berry. But enough about little Miss Midwest." She rocked against him, moaning as she teased the head of his cock, keeping at it until he finally thrust hard into her. His thoughts, however, were still on her mystery roommate.

Rachel Berry – where had he heard that name before? Right, she was that girl that asshole St. James had told him about, a couple of years ago, the one he'd tried to act like he hadn't really cared about but clearly had. Best girl singer, he'd said, in a small package of high energy.

_She's supposed to have this amazing voice..._ Cassandra's words came back to him. This must also be the girl Cassandra had meant, her latest intended object lesson for the rest of the freshman class that she was sure wouldn't last. Small, too, the sort of shape that wasn't a natural dancer, especially compared to the long legs of the sexy Cassandra July.

He smiled. It was so much easier when a girl was getting beaten down by those around her, all vulnerable, it made them open to almost anything and it made him feel all the more powerful, helping someone who otherwise might become lost. And with what Cassandra had said about her lack of sex appeal – how much the better a challenge, to help her develop it. It was so much more enjoyable to be with a girl like that, someone he could mold into what he wanted and change like he had changed, instead of one like Dee who was practically open for business these days, body available to anybody and soul to nobody, not since Bret anyway. Cassandra was a different matter, she pushed the envelope and there was always the extra spiciness of their teacher-student liason. And being with her never got old, while after a bit the interest in being with a girl he'd remade flagged, it became too predictable and she always lost that wide-eyed luster.

Speaking of the need to change things up... he pulled out of Dee and rolled her over onto her front, then guided her up onto her knees so he could mount her. _Variety. _And he'd missed the variety that came with welcoming a new girl, it had been a while. He also missed the chase, the excitement, the wonder and appreciation. He thrust deep into Dee, pausing to let her adjust, still considering his next move.

That middle-of-the-night shower thing of the girl gave him a perfect opportunity to show her some of what he had to offer and give her a little sympathy. And she was a show choir girl, he could pick a song to help reel her in, maybe if he remembered more from what Jesse had told him about her. He had a little time, since he should wait until after she'd had her first dance class; Cassandra didn't intentionally set girls up for him, but she always leaned on them so hard that it worked that way anyway. He bit his lip, tasting his own blood as he contemplated his next project, resuming his pounding into Dee's toned but overly stretched-out body.

_Rachel Berry, prepare to be welcomed to New York._

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	3. The Wings of the Douche

Chapter 3: The Wings of the Douche

_Back in the present..._

She had seen Jesse St. James sitting in the cafe as she had walked by, and it had piqued her curiosity enough to go inside. As she had stood at the counter, waiting for her order, she had overheard what he and the other young man had been discussing, and she had been _completely appalled_.

The two men had bandied words back and forth, but the sheer manipulation of it was dreadful, so much the worse that the target was someone who was now her friend. She would like to think that even at her most selfish she had never been so completely vile as to do anything like what Brody was planning to do to Rachel, and indeed what he had already started doing. She knew how devastated Rachel had been about Finn's sudden change of plans, she was so vulnerable, a sitting duck for douchebags like those two men.

Once Brody left, she decided to confront Jesse. She rose and turned to face him, keeping her face unreadable as she took the few steps to his his table. He didn't look surprised to see her.

"_What_ are you up to, St. James?" Her green eyes glinted down at him from her beautiful face. "I thought you were finished messing with Rachel, but this is so much worse."

"Hello to you too, Quinn," Jesse said. "What brings you here?" He was clearly stalling.

"I'm attending Yale and we have a few days for a study break, so I came into the city to visit some friends," she replied. "No sooner did I leave my hotel and start walking around than who should I see but you, up to no good as usual."

"Why don't you have a seat," he said, rising and nodding to her, ever the polished gentleman.

Quinn Fabray sat, a pretty frown on her face. "All right. However, I have no idea how you think you're going to explain away what I just heard. I thought you'd grown out of that sort of cruelty and manipulation. If not, you should try it, I've found it unexpectedly liberating."

Jesse leaned back. "Oh, I have," he said, his eyes carefully assessing Quinn's demeanor. "Rachel's a nice girl and I regret how I treated her when we were together."

"But you're helping this Brody guy screw up her life even more?" She shook her head. "Do you realize that I'm going to see her tomorrow? You have five minutes, start talking."

"I'm not helping him, I don't agree with what he's doing at all," Jesse tried to explain. "Okay, I mentioned her to him, over two years ago. We used to be rivals for parts in Broadway training workshops, he was talking about some female singer that he claimed was the best, and I brought up Rachel. It was just after we'd broken up -"

"- just after you cracked an egg on her forehead to satisfy your Vocal Adrenaline cronies, you mean."

Jesse frowned. "Fine. But it's not as if I really had a chance with her, long-term. We both know that from personal experience, she and Hudson have something beyond understanding. Though I guess that's 'had', now."

Quinn frowned. "Now, yes." She shook her head. "I'm not sure what happened, at graduation they were just as annoyingly into each other as ever, and the next week Finn sent her to New York without him and was crying to anyone who would listen about how he wasn't anywhere good enough for her and he had to let her go." She sighed. "But all that means is that it's an even-numbered year. If those two were any more self-sacrificing for each other, they would be in an O. Henry story."

"A candy bar?" Jesse was puzzled.

"Never mind," Quinn waved his confusion off. Jesse's obsession with show choirs and Broadway was apparently still as all-consuming as ever, though given his usual fixation on his diet she was surprised he knew about the candy bar either. "But yes, she and Finn are currently broken up. For however long that lasts this time, maybe until he grows out of his inferiority complex." If she was truthful with herself she had helped put quite a bit of that there, or she had reinforced it and helped it grow, both times they had dated. At the very least she was influential, for both of them, which might be useful.

"I hate to admit it, but Hudson was actually kind of good at Nationals," Jesse said reluctantly.

"Which from you, about him, is extremely high praise."

Jesse smiled genuinely. "I suppose so."

Quinn leaned forward. "So what now, are you just going to let that douchebag use Rachel as his prey? He told you _everything_."

"Unfortunately I doubt she would believe me if I told her about Weston," Jesse said, his frown returning. "We don't have a good history, and she certainly never believed any of the things I said to her about Hudson, she always just got defensive."

"When you attacked someone she loved. It's not the same thing." Quinn pursed her lips. "At least I hope not." Rachel had to be reacting to Finn leaving her and feeling unwanted and out of her depth, like that Brody described, surely. That wasn't unusual for Rachel either.

"She could still dismiss it as jealousy. Are you two friends now? Because back when I knew you I wouldn't think you would care."

"I grew up," Quinn answered. "I stopped feeling that anything she got was at my expense, since it really wasn't, not even Finn. I certainly respect that we're the ones that are definitely both going somewhere with our lives."

"And somewhere in all of that you realized that she was far nicer to you than you were to her, and that it wasn't because you were entitled, she really did deserve better," Jesse finished for her.

Quinn sat back and shrugged. "Yes. Familiar, is it?"

Jesse nodded, then sighed. "But that leaves us with a debt to work off and Rachel with a big Brody Weston problem."

Quinn sipped at her coffee. "Agreed. Unfortunately it also leaves us with a trust deficit in talking to Rachel. I suppose we could talk to Kurt, she might trust him, but I don't know if he would trust one of us either. It's a shame he wasn't here to hear all that."

"Well we have to do _something_ about it."

Quinn gave him a superior smile. "What, not looking forward to finding out that he can succeed where you failed?"

Jesse frowned ruefully. "I suppose so, yes. Don't tell me you're any different, though. It's one thing to fail to come between her and Hudson when it's impossible, and -"

"– quite another thing if it's not," Quinn finished for him. "Not that I have any designs on Finn, not for a long time now, but _yes_. If it's that easy to derail those two, even with help from Finn's sense of inferiority and Rachel's fears of abandonment, then why couldn't either of us manage it?" The only one who had succeeded, even temporarily, had been Santana.

"So, we need to make sure he can't either, it's a matter of pride." Jesse paused. "I also hate to think of her at the mercy of those manipulative tactics he described. How much of what we said did you hear?"

"I heard pretty much all of it. I certainly heard his full rundown of what he says and does to get girls to go to bed with him. He's slick, he might just be able to pull it off."

"She'd hate herself afterwards. I know Rachel, and she might find she had to agree to 'no hard feelings' after being tricked like that, but that would just make it hurt more."

"And he'd be yet another person that she thought wanted her but didn't. We can't let him do this to her." Quinn considered the situation for a moment, running over what she'd heard in her mind. "Who told you about Finn's cup, anyway?"

"Puckerman," Jesse replied. "That was true, was it? I could never tell with Puckerman, I figured he was feeding me a line like he has to so many others." He reddened, apparently remembering just who he was talking to. "Sorry," he said lamely.

Quinn smiled. "That's fine. I certainly have first-hand experience with Puck's lines. The funny thing is he actually means them, though, definitely at the time and often even longer. He just finds he can't follow through very well."

"I thought he was just trying to chase me off to help out Hudson."

"That's probably _why_ he told you, but it is completely true, though I don't have first-hand experience of _that_. Azimio and Karofsky played a prank on Finn at the beginning of sophomore year, making Finn's cup completely unusable, and he was scared he wouldn't be able to play in the opening game since it wasn't easy to get a replacement." She had heard Finn babbling about possibly missing his first start, without him really understanding what he was telling her, and she had immediately doubled her efforts with Celibacy Club. Not long after, she'd given in to Puck's advances, partly out of straight animal attraction and curiosity, partly from his plying her with booze and compliments, and secure in knowing that Santana and Brittany had had no complaints. Rachel had not been intimidated by the rumors of Finn's size or dissuaded by naysayers, but she had actually been in love with Finn and should still be so even with Finn's stupidity in how he handled their relationship. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the matter at hand. "Clever of you to bring it up," she commented. "Quite aside from stirring fears of not being able to measure up, he sounds like he's got a taste for near-virgins, he probably likes them tight."

Jesse stared, and she laughed. "Don't be so shocked, St. James. Guys have types and girls know about them." Especially those who have ever been involved with Noah Puckerman, or given birth. Some of the information she'd been given about immediate post-partum physical changes had been very eye-opening, and even unlikely to be the subject of one of Ms. Pillsbury's unusual pamphlets.

Jesse gave a twitch, probably trying to shake her words out of his head. "So what can we do?" he asked after a long pause. "Since she's unlikely to trust either of us if we approach her about this."

_We,_ Quinn thought. It was an unlikely alliance, Jesse and herself, but in some ways it made sense. They both had given their blessings, finally, to Rachel and Finn as a couple, and that really should be the last word on it.

"You have to admit it's a little strange, the two of us actually wanting to help Rachel and Finn get back together," she commented wryly.

"I don't know if I'd go that far. But of all people, we know what collateral damage those two can create when they reunite." He gave her a small amused smile. "Consider it a public service, stopping either of them from getting in too deep with someone else."

Quinn laughed at this way of putting it, both so like and so unlike the Jesse she'd known before. Though he was right, they did know, and the more messed up things got the worse the fallout was likely to be. Most especially, however, they owed it to Rachel to not let her be victimized in the way Brody was planning. Rachel had tentatively become her friend, despite all Quinn had done against her, and she had forgiven Jesse as well. They hadn't earned that friendship before; it was time to earn it now, and here was a chance to do that while doing what they did best. An idea was forming in her mind.

"It's for his own good too," she mused, then caught Jesse's quizzical look. "If he hurts Rachel, Finn will kill him, or at the very least spoil his Broadway looks for good."

"Pity he doesn't do that pre-emptively." Jesse looked hopefully at Quinn, who shook her head. "Or perhaps a little visit from Puckerman for his special brand of TLC?"

"Puck's TLC... or Santana's ALH," Quinn said with a short laugh. "All Li– never mind, it's an in-joke," she went on, seeing Jesse's confusion. "Maybe if nothing else works. He looks built, though, he'd be hard to threaten off even for them." She also wouldn't want to start something that looked invariably like Puck would get in trouble. He did that well enough on his own.

"So what can we do, then? Since she won't trust us if we tell her?" Jesse shook his head. "She's always been far too ready to believe the good in people," he said. "That was only fine when it was me."

Quinn nodded absently, thinking. Rachel was too trusting, that was certain. Perhaps they could use this to their advantage, however, theirs and hers both. Her idea was taking shape, as she realized there was one key thing she could do, if Jesse knew enough to help her with it.

"She's unlikely trust a _direct_ approach from either of us," she stated. "What about an indirect approach?"

"Manipulate her ourselves?" Jesse thought about it. "I suppose we should be much better at it. We're experienced and know exactly what buttons of hers to push, while Brody's tactics are generic."

Quinn indulged in a small eyeroll at hearing Jesse's inner douche slip through. Still, as long as he was on board, she could put up with his giant ego, and he was right. She was confident she finally understood Rachel well; in the absence of a strong connection like Rachel had with Finn, Quinn was sure she could prevail. "It's also much more likely that it really will be for her own good."

"Definitely. She doesn't know what she's getting herself in for with Weston."

"She's not the only one who doesn't know what they're getting themselves in for." Quinn smiled tightly, an evil glint in her eye, and she was happy to see that Jesse was clearly intimidated by this even when he wasn't her target. She was not someone to cross, and she liked people to know it without her having to make overt threats the way Santana did. As for the douchebag trying to manipulate one of her friends into bed, she thought she knew exactly how to deal with him. She leaned forward.

"Jesse – tell me _everything_ you know about Brody Weston. The more personal, the better."

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	4. The Doucheslayer

Chapter 4: The Doucheslayer

The following morning Quinn headed out to Bushwick and tracked down the apartment where Rachel and Kurt now lived. She knocked and heard footsteps approach; the door slid open, and then suddenly Rachel was there, squealing and giving her a welcoming hug.

"Quinn! It's so good to see you, I'm so glad you could come for a visit!"

Quinn hugged her back and followed her into the loft. "I'm glad I finally had the time. There's always so much going on in college."

"Oh, I know."

"So this is your place?" Rather out of the way, but they did have a lot of space.

"Yes. Kurt's out right now at work, though we'll see him tonight, hopefully, his boss is always so interested in his opinions that she hardly spares him time to sleep."

_Flattering... or taking advantage,_ Quinn wondered. _Probably both._

"But that is his room," Rachel gestured to one curtain, "this one is mine, and the rest is a common area. We're working on fixing it up more, it was an empty shell when we got it."

Quinn looked around with appraising eyes, landing finally on Rachel herself, who looked very different. From her trying-too-hard-to-be-chic clothes, to her ombre hair, to her heavy makeup – sad when Finn used to praise her natural look – she was very different. Her body language still showed the same Rachel Berry uncertainty that had so attracted Quinn and the others to pick on her in the early years of high school, though. Despite her change in outward appearance, she still gave off the "victim" aura that attracted sharks. "You've been doing a little 'fixing up' yourself," Quinn commented, nodding at her.

"It's a new me for my new life in New York," Rachel chirped, though her line seemed very rehearsed.

"A new you?" Quinn sighed internally, seeing evidence that she had been encouraged to change, as Brody had boasted. "I had finally gotten used to the old you." And she meant that seriously; it had taken a long time for Rachel's usual ways to strike her as "endearing" rather than "annoying", and definitely a long time to fully accept her with Finn. To see all that effort wasted was frustrating. It was also disappointing to see someone who had been so proud of her individuality despite her insecurities suddenly cave to pressure, especially after she'd survived high school.

"Well it's not _that_ new, though Kurt and his boss at Vogue dot com did give me a makeover," Rachel replied. She smiled self-consciously. "And a lot of new clothes."

_And far too much makeup, apparently,_ Quinn thought. _It's like she's trying to disguise herself as someone else._ She knew she had had her own times like that, the tattoos and piercings and pink hair of her skank phase. Rachel was apparently still holding fast to her nose, which at least was something, since while Quinn didn't regret her own nose job she knew Rachel would, and Finn would be devastated if that happened. (She had even had a good sense of that, back when she had encouraged Rachel to get one; it had been one of her meanest moments, wanting Rachel to change to validate her own past changes and make it hard for Finn to look at Rachel the way he used to.)

For now, Quinn smiled at her friend. "I wonder if they have any in my size," she said, and she relaxed and listened to Rachel chitter happily about the things they could do that day.

There was a friend that Rachel said they could see, an unnamed upperclassman from NYADA who had been helping her, and Quinn readily agreed that she would love to meet him for coffee. _Excellent_.

* * *

Quinn and Rachel were having coffee at the back of a cafe close to NYADA when Quinn spotted Brody coming through the door. She stared for a moment, making sure to be obvious enough about her shock and ambivalence so that Rachel would pick up on it.

As Brody came closer, Quinn rose to approach him. "Brody?" she asked, doing her best to sound stunned. _Pretend you just ran into Shelby with Beth,_ she told herself.

"Hi, uh..." Brody reacted to her knowing his name, but otherwise seemed very confused. _Good._

"Oh my God, Brody!" Quinn rushed to give him a very awkward hug. "It's Quinn, remember? Quinn Fabray from Lima?" She stepped back with a tentative grimacing smile. "Well we met here in New York, when I was here for that show choir competition, but I'm sure I told you I was from Lima. Lima Ohio."

"Ah... should I remember...?" His expression was frozen, like the deer in the headlights cliche.

"We did spend most of the weekend together, aside from when I was actually at the competition." She watched Brody shake his head, confused, and slowly hardened her expression. Rachel had risen and was standing next to them, looking surprised. And now, increasingly, concerned. "You said you'd show me around New York, but you mostly showed me the inside of your dorm...?" Quinn gave a pointed frown. "Seriously, is this not ringing _any_ bells for you?"

"No..." Brody trailed off, looking from her to Rachel and back again.

"Come on, you don't need to pretend. I know I didn't take the whole 'no hard feelings' thing well then, but I understand now, it was just a weekend and we just took things as they came, you were helping me move on and you didn't promise more. We can be grown-ups about it now." All some of Brody's favorite lines on girls he was "mentoring", according to the taunts he'd thrown at Jesse.

Quinn quickly glanced at Rachel, and she smirked internally as she could see the brunette's thoughts flash across her face. Nationals in New York – she had sneaked away quite a lot, especially after they hadn't advanced to the showcase, and before the competition Rachel had been out too much herself to know where Quinn had been. That summer, after they'd returned to Lima, Quinn had completely crashed and burned, something that couldn't be accounted for by simply being dumped by Finn and having him reunite with Rachel, even given how public that reunion was. She had never told any of her friends about the big fight she'd had with her father when he had visited right after school was over, how she'd called him a hypocrite and he'd called her a whore that he was ashamed to think was his child, and how even her sister seemed to agree with him at the time. She'd felt irrevocably ruined, thought that maybe she took after him, and had decided to at least enjoy it; having since pulled out of it for Beth's sake, she had no regrets about now implying that her slide into skankdom was because she had been taken advantage of when she had been vulnerable, especially since that was clearly this guy's _modus operandi_. By the look on Rachel's face, she was making the connection Quinn intended.

"I did have the tattoo removed, however. Not that there's anything wrong with tattoos, but given how things ended I didn't want the memento." She smiled at Brody again, her face sporting her best let's-be-mature-about-this look. "Do you still have those cute musical notes on your butt?" She flashed her smile at Rachel next, pretending to ignore her growing discomfiture. _I'd like to thank the Academy..._ she thought. "He said it's to remind him to move it to the music, and boy did he ever. From what I remember." Jesse had said he'd overheard Brody talking about what the tattoo meant, way back during the dance class in that workshop; hopefully Brody wouldn't realize how she knew about it. He didn't seem to recognize her from that other cafe the previous day.

Brody paled noticeably, and Quinn fought down a snicker. At this rate she'd have him believing that their weekend had actually happened and he'd been too drunk to remember it.

Her plan was working brilliantly. When she'd talked to Jesse, they had decided that any direct accusation of Brody was unlikely to work. As well as them being short on credibility, Rachel tended to see the good in people and could be very protective of her friends. But that included Quinn herself; by not accusing Brody, but acting like she'd been hurt by him but was trying not to make a big deal about it, Quinn was invoking Rachel's protective streak for _her_, against Brody. Rachel wouldn't protect herself, but she would protect Quinn, and any denials from Brody would just make him look worse.

By the look in Rachel's eyes, and her body language, it was working like a charm.

"So you know Rachel," Brody said, pulling her attention back to him.

"Yes, we –" Quinn started slowly, but she was unexpectedly interrupted by Rachel, who stepped to her side, facing Brody directly.

"We've known each other for years, we went to high school together," Rachel stated. "Quinn's an old friend of mine from Glee Club. She's visiting from Yale."

Quinn could almost have cheered at Rachel's reaction, better even than she thought would happen. Right away, Rachel was clearly stating to Brody that if it came to sides, she was on Quinn's.

"Oh. Right." Brody looked from one girl to the other, looking very awkward. Stunned, even, as he should be, on finding that his current target was an old friend of someone acting the part of a previous victim. He didn't look like the confident and narcissistic young man she had seen yesterday taunting Jesse, quite the opposite. "Well, any friend of Rachel's..." he trailed off, clearly still unsure what to say or do. As Jesse had predicted, the approach had left Brody unable to cope easily, just as Jesse had admitted his own reaction would have been, back when he had been manipulating Rachel himself.

After a moment more he gave a sharp nod and turned to Quinn. "So Quinn, it's good to meet you... again." He swallowed. "I, uh, no hard feelings, right? I did think I was giving you what you wanted."

Quinn almost broke her facade entirely at hearing Brody essentially admit to what hadn't happened. She looked at the ground, giving herself a moment to recover, hoping that her efforts at suppressing laughter would be mistaken as stopping herself from crying. _Of course,_ she thought. _Naturally he would have some phrases worked out to say if one of his previous conquests accosted him._ Presumably he'd simply tapped into those, since the current scenario had taken him by surprise. And since he didn't know about her subsequent tailspin, he had no idea what she was really accusing him of - but Rachel did.

"Well..." Quinn eventually looked over at Rachel, who was looking at her with extreme concern. "I was very mixed up, I really didn't know what I wanted," she said finally. _This has the benefit of being true, for that time._

"I, uh... yes." Brody stopped and looked at Rachel, who was avoiding his gaze to focus on Quinn. "Well, under the circumstances... I should leave you to your weekend. Enjoy New York, greatest city on Earth."

"You said that before," Quinn said softly, needling him a little.

"Right. It still is. I'll see you around, Rachel. And Quinn, all the best. You look like you're doing great." With that, Brody turned and walked away.

_Is he playing along or has he started to believe it himself?_ Quinn wondered. _I suppose it doesn't matter._ "Same here," she called after him as he walked away. _Hey douchebag_, she thought as she eyed Brody's retreating form. _Stay away from my friends._

Quinn turned to Rachel with a smile. "So, I can't believe you know Brody Parker," she said. "And they say New York is so big."

"Parker? Um, what?" Rachel blinked, suddenly stunned even more. "It's Weston," she whispered. "Uh, Brody _Weston_," she said, more loudly.

Quinn widened her eyes. "Really?" She giggled self-consciously. "I'm _sure_ he told me Parker, before. Oh well, what could I expect, I suppose." She shrugged, pleased at how well her little suggestions were being picked up on. She and Jesse had decided the first name was rare enough to confirm that she remembered the guy, since Rachel hadn't mentioned his name to her; getting the last name that badly wrong could only be because he'd lied to her, or at least that was what they wanted Rachel to think. Quinn's memory was far too good for it to be a mistake on her part, and she knew Rachel knew that. She turned back to the other girl. "Oh, I am so sorry," she said sincerely, and this part wasn't an act. "I know he's your friend."

"Almost the only person at NYADA who was nice to me, at least at the start," Rachel said sadly. "I suppose it was too good to be true."

Quinn simply looked at her, carefully assessing what Rachel was thinking about what had just happened. Rachel seemed to have fallen completely for Quinn's story and what Quinn wanted her to think; though the whole thing was a lie, it was a lie that told the truth about the sort of person Brody was. Surely there were other, better, people at NYADA for Rachel to be around. She just needed a confidence boost. Soon Rachel spoke again.

"Quinn... I know what people are probably saying, that I broke up with Finn because of Brody, but please believe me that nothing could be farther from the truth," Rachel said. She bit her lip, and Quinn nodded noncommitally, encouraging her to continue. "Finn may think that, even though I told him otherwise, and Brody certainly seemed to think that, but it's wrong." She sat heavily. "Finn refuses to be in New York with me, he refuses to let me be anywhere else with him, he didn't contact me at all for four months after putting me on that train so suddenly, when we had a problem to work out he left in the middle of the night – I love him so much, and I know he's lost and hurting, it kills me that I can't help him, but we can't have a relationship like that. I can't help him or be with him if he runs away and won't even talk to me." She sighed. "All I did was put a name on it."

"And Brody?"

"He's here, he's been so attentive, I won't deny that it feels good to be wanted..."

_Puck was good at that too,_ Quinn mused. _Swooping in on the underappreciated, making you feel good. But sometimes the target is you._

"But I love Finn. I know he'll find his way, I just have to trust to that. And Brody, well –" she blushed, looking sheepish. "It's exciting to be pursued, and it made me feel special, but I guess he's good at doing that sort of thing. Pursuing." Quinn nodded. "So, not so special after all, I suppose. And obviously I don't know him very well. I thought I might like to, but..." she sighed again, and suddenly stood and hugged Quinn. "I was so lonely. And I'm so sorry, for what happened when you met him before, and for you having to face him again now, I know you say you're over it but still."

"New York isn't what we thought it would be, is it?" Quinn responded, wanting to avoid elaborating on the lie.

Rachel gave her a sad smile. "I know." She sighed. "I thought it was going to be so different, like somehow I would magically fit in, find people like me, be encouraged..." She paused, looking at Quinn, her demeanor starting to brighten a little. "I'm so glad you came to visit."

"So am I," Quinn said sincerely. She cleared her throat. "Now let's go out and have some fun, show the Big Apple we can take it on," she said. "And _when_ we get the attention we deserve, all we need to do is soak it up." A little of her old head Cheerio attitude would be useful here, she decided. Rachel needed to understand that she was entitled to have others pay attention to her, instead of getting sucked in by some man just because he did.

Rachel nodded with a smile, and the two girls walked down the street together.

Later, when Quinn had a free moment alone, she sent a text to Jesse: _Mission accomplished._

.

END

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